Jason Florence Abejo of the University of Cebu Baby Web Masters goes for a lay-up against Phil Renzo Calumpang of SHS-Ateneo Magis Eagles during Game 1 of the Cesafi juniors basketball finals at the Cebu Coliseum. UC won the game 73-63 for a 100 lead.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON
In the two weeks that came before the start of the finals, the University of Cebu (UC) had heard it all. “The finals series is going to be a cakewalk.” “UC had no chance.” “Ateneo de Cebu is too strong.”
Last night, the Baby Webmasters showed that they would have none of it as they pulled off the biggest upset of the season so far, defeating the mighty Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles, 73-63, in Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series in the juniors division of the 15th Cesafi basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum.
Behind the mighty mouse of a guard, Jelmart Umpad, sharpshooter Froilan Mangubat and the rest of their spunky teammates, UC bucked a slow start, pulled ahead in the second canto and stood defiant in the face of a comeback attempt by the Magis Eagles to grab the series-opener and move a step closer to their first juniors crown in seven years.
Mangubat was UC’s beacon of basketball brilliance as he tallied 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals. Umpad on the other hand – all 4-foot-10 of him – added 14 points, including six of the team’s last eight, along with five rebounds and four dimes. Jason Abejo also played a key role in handing the Magis Eagles their first loss in 12 games this season, as he scored 15 markers while Luigi Gabisan had 11 before sitting out the game’s final stages because of leg cramps.
The defending champions actually closed the first quarter with a, 20-14 lead. But the Baby Webmasters responded with nine unanswered points at the start of the second canto to grab the upper hand, 23-20. The Magis Eagles fought back to take the lead, 27-26, but Abejo completed a rare four-point play and Mangubat sdded a triple of his own to give UC a, 33-27 advantage at the break.
The three-pointers kept on coming for the Baby Webmasters as Abejo and Mangubat sank one each in a brief 8-0 spurt that gave UC its first double-digit lead, 47-37, before Ateneo de Cebu’s Jed Colonia beat the third period buzzer with one of his own to trim the deficit down to seven.
The Magis Eagles inched to within, 61-65, after a trey by Patrick Yu and a deuce by Colonia, 1:19 to go but lost track of Umpad who streaked upcourt, caught a hail-mary pass and sank an unmolested lay-in for a 67-61 lead. Umpad and Mangubat later sank four free-throws to seal the victory for UC.
UC head coach Joever Samonte, relished the huge victory especially since nobody pegged them to win.
“Mas lami siya kay underdogs man gud mi,” he shared. “We really worked on our conditioning and our zone defense in the two weeks leading up to this game. Sacred Heart is a very strong team and we can’t beat them by going toe to toe with them on offense. So we needed to stay in front of them all of the time and play tough, solid defense.”
UC’s defense, held Colonia – the Magis Eagles’ heart and soul – to just nine points, seven rebounds and five assists. The former Batang Gilas member missed nine of his 13 attempts from the field. His runningmate, Errol Pastor, also struggled and shot 5-of-13 for 11 points.
Yu led the team with 13 markers while Wayne Bersaluna added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Meanwhile in the men’s tournament, the Southwestern University Cobras blew out the University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars, 84-66, to take Game 1 of the best-of-three series for third place. Two-time league MVP Mac Tallo led the way with 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals while Mac Racho added 19.